“Of Sound, Mind and Body” is the world of music in the hands of
three master musicians. It is spontaneous music creation that
resonates with tradition but is driven by innovation and
imagination. It is neither new nor old, it is simply music, in
real time.

“Of Sound, Mind and Body” is the trio of composer/improvisers
made up of Tim Brady (electric guitar, electronics), Helmut
Lipsky (violin) and Shawn Mativetsky (tabla, percussion). These
three musicians bring a remarkable range of experience and
vision to the table: Lipsky is a classical and jazz violin
virtuoso, Mativetsky is one of Canada’s foremost proponents of
the traditional Indian tabla and of world music
percussion, and Brady is an acknowledged international electric
guitar innovator and composer. Together, they work with
a palette of sounds and ideas that encompass the history and
future of musical expression.

What sets this trio of improvisers apart is both their
visionary approach to open musical ideas and their inherent
understanding of musical form. This is true free improvisation
– it can be tonal, atonal, modal, hyper-chromatic, neo-romantic,
punk rock-loud, Feldman-soft, simple, chaotic. Everything is
allowed, imagination and conviction are the only prerequisites.
It is not about a narrow musical style, it is about using music
to create connections with other musicians and the public.

The key to the success of their performances is the sense of
drama and structure that these three musicians bring to the
improvisational process. Lipsky, Brady and Mativetsky naturally
think in expressive musical phrases, building the performance
with the same sense of balance and daring as a composed work of
chamber music. The ebb and flow of tension and release – the
life-blood of most of the world’s musical traditions – is at the
heart of the creative process that is “Of Sound, Mind and Body”.

BIOGRAPHIES

Tim Brady - Electric Guitar - see Biography(above)

Shawn Mativetsky – Tabala, Percussion
Versatile percussionist Shawn Mativetsky performs
in a variety of musical genres with dynamism and skill. Equally
at home in Indian classical music, world music, and
contemporary/new music, Shawn also composes and performs for
dance and theatre. Exponent of the Benares gharana, and
disciple of the legendary Pandit Sharda Sahai,
Shawn Mativetsky is a highly sought-after tabla performer
and educator. He is active in the promotion of the tabla and
North Indian classical music through lectures, workshops, and
performances across Canada and internationally. Based in
Montreal, Shawn teaches tabla and percussion at McGill
University. His solo CD, Payton MacDonald: Works
for Tabla, was released in 2007, and Cycles, his
new CD of Canadian compositions for tabla was released in the
fall of 2011.

Helmut Lipsky - Violin
Violinist Helmut Lipsky is the prototype of the accomplished
musician of today: born in Germany, raised in Switzerland in the
tradition of classical music, and studied with the great masters
in New York, including Itzhak Perlman, where Lipsky developed as
an improviser and composer.

His mix of musical languages (jazz, tango, popular and
traditional music of other cultures), solidifies Lipsky’s very
personal and identifiable style. He has twice been nominated for
Felix awards for Best CD, and has collaborated with the likes of
Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider, American cellist David
Darling, and German singer Gerhard Schöne. Lipsky has performed
at such prestigious events as the Montreux Jazz Festival in
Switzerland and Berlin’s Summer Festival.
He has written, interpreted and produced music for theatre,
cinema, multimedia installations and television. Special events,
like his Concerto for violin and chainsaw, which premiered at
the opening of the international Symposium of Contemporary Arts
in Amos, brought his eclectic style to international attention.
Helmut Lipsky teaches young violinists at the Conservatoire de
Musique de Montreal, jazz violin at the University of Montreal
and Concordia, and gives master classes throughout Quebec and
Europe. He has degrees in Performance and Pedagogy from the
Conservatory of Winterthur, Switzerland, and a Master’s degree
from New York’s Brooklyn College Conservatory.

Lipsky’s awards include the Order of French Music and the
Presidential Scholar Award of the Council of the City of New York.